I grew up in a big family. I didn't have a bedroom to myself until my junior year in high school and being one of the youngest children, I always shared a room with an older sister. So I seldom had to face my monsters alone. Now we also lived on a farm out in the country, surrounded by fields that were surrounded by woods. Though I never saw one, I was scared to death of BEARS. I was sure they could somehow climb up the windows to my second story bedroom and burst through the glass in the middle of the night. I would stare at those dark windows until I fell asleep. I didn't believe in ghosts, vampires, demons or any kind of hobgoblin, only those durn bears.
Now that I'm grown and moved from that part of the state, the bears have made a comeback. My brother, who was also afraid of bears as a child, shot a bear in his back yard. It was during hunting season when the large black boar strolled into his yard while his young boys were playing outside. Talk about nightmares coming true.
Now if you want to hear about more childhood monsters, perhaps more creative than mine, visit Christine's blog and follow some links. Did something special frighten you as child? Does that monster appear anywhere in your writing?
32 comments:
I was terrified of a skeleton (one of those bright white ones.) I have no idea why, because I'd never watched films about bad skeletons. Yet in my mind it would hide behind the door (I had my own room and my parents were on the other side of the house so it felt like I was all alone.) When my mum came to tuck me in, she would make sure the gaps in the curtains were closed, and the moment she went I would make sure that at least a thin crack of light streamed into my room. I have no idea why. I don't know how the patch of streetlamp would have scared away the skeleton. I would also make sure I was really tucked up, with no gaps, just in case the skeleton would come and nibble at my feet. I was a weird child :D
I don't think I had anything special as a kid, but I was afraid of ET when I was really young. Other than that, not much really bothered me.
Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom
Now that's a real fear. Not the bear climbing up to your window of course. Scary that one came into your brother's yard.
As dangerous as they can be, I don't blame you for being afraid of them.
Kudos to your brother!
Clowns, the dark, my sister, and the devil. They all scared the pooie out of me. And my mom.
Shelly
How scary for your brother! I had a scary bear encounter myself while camping and have never been camping since.
My family made up its own monster, the Hobiats, who would steal your toys and bite your toes. They would come in under the bed, through the closet and through the vents. Yikes!
My grandparents used to live in a somewhat rural town that always had bears -- families of bears, a mama and her babies -- and just going to the mailbox or putting the garbage out was a risk. The bears were always hanging around. Scary.
My middle child was so afraid of bears that we couldn't walk past the bears at the zoo.
Tales of the Jersey Devil scared the bejeebies out of me. I grew up in NJ, you'd think far enough from the Pinelands for it to be a scary legend, but when you consider it had wings... :0
Okay, this blogfest is totally freaking me put! I'm a giant scaredy-cat.
The things that exist in real life can often be the most frightening.
One of our neighbors saw a bear in her yard just a few days ago; and there have been other reports of bears. It is scary to think of them wandering around the area.
Bears can be pretty scary. I couldn't imagine being in my yard with my kids and having one come out! One of my friends' sons is seven and his newest fear is bears. Even though he lives in the middle of a big city up 27 stories, he still thinks the bear will climb up and smash in his window!
Thanks for sharing your story and for helping me to promote my novella.
Ooh, creepy indeed! I am deathly afraid of any large creatures--and bears are definitely on that list. Especially after I watched Grizzly Man Diaries... *shudder*
A bear in one's backyard! Yikes! That's a pretty dang good reason to be scared!
Some Dark Romantic
I can see how a large black bear can be that scary monster that can haunt you for years to come. Especially if your kids are involved.
I'm told that when I was on a camping trip with my mother's side of the family in the summer of '93, at 13 years old, some bear came into our campgrounds at night, and I was the only one who slept through it. It's hard to say now if I would've been terrified if I'd woken up and seen or heard a bear lumbering about in the vicinity.
I'm scared of aliens, out of all the horror and paranormal creatures out there.
I didn't have any childhood monsters, but I was afraid of people - I was shy.
There is an award for you on my blog. Congratulations!
If I lived anywhere bears, I'd have been terrified too! They are SO big!
I never thought of teddy bears as cuddly,comforting creatures either.
They have claws, teeth and are HUGE. Watching them is quite terrifying.
Great entry.
as a child i was afraid of everything, but i don't remember giving bears much thought--very creative fear :)
I was always so mad as a kid that I was an only child and had no one to share a room with (and thus face down monsters together). Sigh.
Great post, Susan! Like you, I had no fear of the supernatural--and in Mexico, where I grew up, bears are kind of scarce--but I had my own "haunts" :) Thanks for sharing!
Oh my stars! A bear in his yard! Yikes! I'm glad your brother and his boys were all right. I just saw Night of the Grizzlies on the History Channel. Scary stuff.
A bear in the backyard around the kids?! OMG. I would've freaked!
Yep bears would be scary as they are huge and grizzly. I can definitely understand your fear.
EVERYTHING makes it into my writing. No skeltons, though. Yet. And no bears either, although I do have the Sci-fi fantasy equivalent.
Lauren
Lauren-ritz.blogspot.com
Oof, I've no idea what I'd do. Probably call the zoo since they are native, but still ... urk!
Just popped over from Jeremy's blog for the Dog Days of Summer but I think I'm a wee bit early.
In the UK we don't have to deal with bears the scariest thing near us is the beast of Bodmin Moor, which is believed to be a black panther, there are meant to be a lot of these roaming in the UK after licensing laws where brought out on these kind of animals and lots of people released theirs into the wind to stop them from being destroyed, I have seen it only once from a distance and it was not something I would like to repeat lol. Was very scary especially given that my husband had just gone into the front of some trees that the beast had just gone behind. Thankfully he came back out unharmed having retrieved the dogs ball safely lol.
I think bears are scary and huge and real. I've never met any in realy life, and I'm not sure I'd want to.
Gosh, it's even scarier to see one's nightmare come true.
We have bears here, too, but I luckily avoided that fear. However, I couldn't deal with uncovered windows as a kid. I needed curtains or blinds pulled. Too many possibilities...
My monster: http://thewarriormuse.blogspot.com/2012/08/childhood-monster-blog-fest.html
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